Hundred Layer Cake (Baumkuchen)

     On a recent trip to Disney World, I came across a window display in an Epcot shop that I just had to share here on Spoonful of Zucker. Even as a little kid, I was that nerd who liked Epcot the best, and now that I can fully appreciate the authenticity of it all, it's even more fascinating. That trip got me thinking that it was time to post another German recipe, and as I was brainstorming what to make, it dawned on me that although I've made it half a dozen times, I still haven't posted the famous Baumkuchen.

     One thing I've learned since I started cooking is that inspiration for new recipes can come from anywhere. I first saw the Baumkuchen when I was a senior in high school visiting my college for the first time. It was pictured in a newspaper clipping posted on a bulletin board in the foreign language department. Baumkuchen is German for "tree cake," and the authentic ones actually do look like trees. I probably shouldn't post a picture of a professionally made one on here because that's probably illegal, but a true Baumkuchen is made in a special rotating oven to make it look like the many layers of cake create vertical stripes. However, when you look at the top of the cake, the layers appear to go in circles so that they look like the rings inside a log. Google it, it's cool.
     Unfortunately, I don't have the fancy equipment required to get this exact effect, and on top of that, I've taken a lot of liberties with this recipe to make it my own. Traditionally, it's supposed to be an almond cake, but since I don't like almond flavored things, I decided to make the layers chocolate and vanilla. This gives it some more visual appeal, but because of the changes, I usually call this the Hundred Layer Cake. In reality, the most layers I've ever gotten out of it is 17, but theoretically, you could just keep multiplying the recipe and get as many layers that the tallest pan you can find will fit. This is a tricky, time-consuming recipe, but it's an attention-grabber. The cake looks like it should be dense and dry, but instead, it's incredibly light and even velvety, if you can describe a cake as such.
     So this is the kind of cake you make when you want to impress someone. In my case, it was my professor, whom we had invited to dinner in our dorm and with whom I had already shared my albeit tentative plans for culinary school. I had to prove that I'm not just all about quick and easy college food, that I have some pretty cool tricks up my sleeve, and this is one of the best ones I've got.

INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 stick of butter, softened
7 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2/3 cup flour
about 1 cup of milk

For ganache:
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy cream
toasted sliced almonds (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the broiler. This cake is not baked. Instead, each paper-thin layer is broiled. Grease, flour, and line the bottom of a springform pan with parchment paper. I recommend a 9inch pan, but a smaller, taller one may be easier to handle and will give you more layers with the same amount of batter.
2. Melt the chocolate chips for the cake in the microwave or a double boiler and cool completely.
3. Carefully separate the eggs. Whip the whites to soft peaks in a pre-chilled metal bowl with an electric mixer. Add a splash of lemon juice if they don't want to whip.

4. In a separate bowl, beat the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

5. Beat the flour and cornstarch into the yolk batter in batches. When it's combined, use a rubber spatula to gently fold in the egg whites.

6. Now grab another bowl and divide the batter equally in two portions. It's very important that you have the same amount in each. Stir the melted chocolate into one of the bowls, so you now have chocolate and vanilla batters.
7. The last step before assembling the cake is probably the most important. You have to thin out both batters to somewhere between the consistency of pancake and crêpe batter so that it will spread itself out to cover the entire pan. To do this, gradually add milk to each bowl until the batter is just runny enough to do this, but not completely liquid. In my experience, it usually takes about 1/2 cup of milk in each bowl.
8. The goal is to get each layer as thin as possible but even and not transparent. Because the melted chocolate makes it slightly thicker, the chocolate batter makes a better base layer. The base layer is the trickiest. Plop a few tablespoons of chocolate batter into the bottom of the pan, and tilt and turn it until it spreads itself out evenly. Pay special attention to covering the edges, and if you're using parchment paper, make sure it doesn't shift. When you're confident in this layer, broil it on high for about 1 minute.

Everyone's broiler is different, so the only way to be safe is to watch it like a hawk. 5 extra seconds and it's burnt, but 5 seconds too little, and the still squishy center will shift and mess up the next layer. You can tell when a layer is done just by looking at it, but if small spots do get a little overdone, you can probably get away with it if you just move on. This layer is a little toasty in some spots, but overall pretty good:

9. Now take a few tablespoons of vanilla batter and do the same thing, right on top of the cooked chocolate layer. For some reason, vanilla tends to cook faster.

It seems hard now, but by the 4th layer, you'll have the hang of it.
10. Continue alternating layers until you run out of either batter or space in the pan. Keep count so you can brag about it later! If you run out of one color batter before the other, bake the extra separately, but don't attempt to use it up by making thicker layers of one color. Broil each layer for the same amount of time. Don't worry, the bottom layers will not continue to cook too much.
11. Let the cake cool completely. Then run a knife around the edge and remove the side of the pan. This is the moment of truth, to see if the many ayers are visible from the side. But don't be nervous, I've never had it not turn out right, even on my first attempt. Invert the cake onto a serving platter and remove parchment paper.
12. To make the ganache, melt the rest of the chocolate chips over a double boiler (not in the microwave this time). Then, whisk in the cream and gently heat and stir until completely smooth.

13. Use the back of a spoon to spread the ganache on top of the cake. Let it drip over parts of the edge if it wants to.

14. You can serve this like this, or add toasted almond slices all over the top. Alternatively, you could frost this with chocolate buttercream, as I did last time I made it. Both are delicious. It's time to slice in, and finally get to the surprise center.

Whoops...that picture is from back when I used to make the first layer vanilla. Still, you've got to admit that's pretty cool!